China’s move to play political broker in Nepal not working

NEW DELHI: A team of senior officials of the Communist Party of China that landed in Kathmandu on Sunday continued their interactions with leaders of the Nepal Communist Party on Monday in an effort to broker peace between the two rival factions of the ruling party.

Chinese President Xi Jinping last week deputed the delegation led by Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the international department of the Chinese communist party’s central committee (IDCPC), after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli sprung a surprise on his detractors in the party and dissolved Parliament. Fresh elections to the 275-seat House of Representatives have been scheduled in two phases on April 30 and May 10 next year.

Guo Yezhou, who flew into Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in a scheduled Air China flight with other delegates, is learnt to have been told by President Xi to amp up Ambassador Hou Yanqi’s efforts to keep Nepal Communist Party in one piece. About 7-8 more communist party officials drove into Nepal from the land border.

Guo Yezhou’s team met President Bidya Devi Bhandari and PM Oli on Sunday. The President’s office hasn’t given any details of the discussions or the guests except to confirm the Chinese team’s meeting with Bidhya Devi Bhandari, who had signed off on the recommendation to dissolve parliament.

The delegation that included Dr Sun Haiyan, DG, China Centre for Contemporary World Studies, Liang Wihan, IDCPC, South Asia Affairs, and Zheng Yoyuwa, senior office bearer, IDCPC, also held meetings with Prachanda, Madhav Nepal, Jhalanath Khanal, and Baburam Bhattarai, all opponents of PM Oli.

“The picture is not very clear. The attempt is to maintain unity, failing which to bring the majority to the PR-MN side, the clearest road for which is restoration of parliament,” said a diplomat in Kathmandu.

PM Oli, who was seen to be reluctant to engage with the Chinese and had previously told off the Chinese ambassador for her interventions, did meet the Chinese team on Sunday evening.

PM Oli’s foreign affairs advisor Rajan Bhattarai had described the meeting, which local media reports indicated went on for two hours, as a “courtesy call”.

On Monday, Guo Yezhou’s delegation drove down to the Khumaltar residence of former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda who is leading the rival faction within the communist party to discuss the options to stop the party from splitting. Guo will next meet another former PM Madhav Nepal who is aligned with Prachanda.

Yezhou is a familiar face in Nepal’s political circles and is believed to have played a role in the formation of the Nepal Communist Party in 2018.

Prachanda and PM Oli had been co-chair of the Nepal communist party as part of the pact signed when the party was formed in 2018. Nepal watchers said Communist Party of China wants the PM Oli-led government to rescind the presidential order and has offered to use its influence with the rival faction to get them to back off and guaranteed that he would be able to complete his term.